Job offer withdrawn less than a week before start date

tatsplat

Hello, really looking for some advice if anyone has been in a similar situation.
My husband recently interviewed for a position in a company after being headhunted by a recruiter. Interview went well and the recruiter called to say he had got the job. This was back in February. He was also forwarded an email from the company offering him the job, outlining hours and pay plus detailing probationary period. He handed in notice at the job he had at the time and as new job was cross country took his tools down there and rented a place there. He was due to start Monday, super excited because in his old job he was working like a dog, outside in all conditions and the new one was more specific to his area and the pay was great. Well, he got a call yesterday to say the company withdrew the job offer as the company they are subcontracted to withdrew funding for the new department and that meant no position for him to fill. We have rent to pay (in Dublin city centre no less) he bought a car because of this job and we also have a six month old baby :-(
Just wondering if he has any legal standing in a situation like this? Surely acceptance of a written job offer constitutes some kind of contractual agreement?

the_syco

Did he sign the work contract?

davo10

Unfortunately it's unlikely. The contract/job hasn't started and during probation/in first year you can be let go pretty easily anyway. It's a shoddy way to run a business and a nasty thing to do. I'd talk to the recruiter, but don't burn your bridges, something else might come up.

Diceicle

I would think it worth talking to a solicitor. The email *could* be looked upon as them acting in bad faith - though as Davo10 suggests, in the first 12 months you can be dismissed fairly arbitrarily anyway.
They may give you some fair compensation for the upheaval.

jonnybravo

Happened to me. Luckily old company took me back. Your husband could try that even in the short term? I got a payment from my "new" employer but my understanding was that they didn't have to give me anything.

seamus

Yeah, pretty much nothing you can do in this scenario. I've nearly had to do this once, luckily the guy turned around and said he'd taken another job, I was 24 hours away from having to tell him the position he'd accepted had been binned :eek:

In effect your husband's position has been made redundant before he has even started. So there's nothing in contracts or emails that could be used to push back on it.

+1 on the suggestion above to contact the old employer - today - explain that the new job has fallen through and ask if they can take him back, even on a short-term basis, till he gets himself sorted. The old employer probably haven't hired a replacement yet, so the extra pair of experienced hands will help until they do.

Tar.Aldarion

seamus wrote: »

Yeah, pretty much nothing you can do in this scenario. I've nearly had to do this once, luckily the guy turned around and said he'd taken another job, I was 24 hours away from having to tell him the position he'd accepted had been binned :eek:

In effect your husband's position has been made redundant before he has even started. So there's nothing in contracts or emails that could be used to push back on it.

+1 on the suggestion above to contact the old employer - today - explain that the new job has fallen through and ask if they can take him back, even on a short-term basis, till he gets himself sorted. The old employer probably haven't hired a replacement yet, so the extra pair of experienced hands will help until they do.

Saw a case on Reddit yesterday where a junior software engineer was given a 10k relocation package and a large signing bonus (40k or 50k can't recall) in Canada, shortly after moving to Canada they said they had actually been looking for a senior engineer and his job was terminated. Worse they wanted all the money back, money he spent moving and preparing for the new job, had most of it gone!

seamus

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Saw a case on Reddit yesterday where a junior software engineer was given a 10k relocation package and a large signing bonus (40k or 50k can't recall) in Canada, shortly after moving to Canada they said they had actually been looking for a senior engineer and his job was terminated. Worse they wanted all the money back, money he spent moving and preparing for the new job, had most of it gone!

Afaik Canada's employment laws are only barely better than the US's. There's virtually no way in the EU that a court would declare the money in that case would have to be repaid. Even then if I found myself in that situation I'd just come home and tell the company where to go.

Contract law requires that where there's a conflict in wording, the interpretation which is chosen is the one which is least beneficial to the party which created the contract.

So if, e.g., the contract said that the signing bonus and relocation package were contingent on "starting" the job, a court would rule in favour of the employee since it was the employer who didn't "start" the job, not the employee.

Tar.Aldarion

Found it here! https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/8807jw/relocated_for_job_only_to_be_let_go_2_weeks_later/

I think the best course of action is yours as they passed it on to their "collections" department, scary to think what the workers rights are like in over there.

tatsplat

He is loath to go back to his old job though he left on fairly good terms with his supervisor, because he said he doesn’t want to mess them about by leaving then going back then leaving again.

Scary to think this has happened to others and there’s literally nothing you can do. As for the rent luckily it was just a sublet room, but it’s the disappointment of everything.

reg114

tatsplat wrote: »

Hello, really looking for some advice if anyone has been in a similar situation.
My husband recently interviewed for a position in a company after being headhunted by a recruiter. Interview went well and the recruiter called to say he had got the job. This was back in February. He was also forwarded an email from the company offering him the job, outlining hours and pay plus detailing probationary period. He handed in notice at the job he had at the time and as new job was cross country took his tools down there and rented a place there. He was due to start Monday, super excited because in his old job he was working like a dog, outside in all conditions and the new one was more specific to his area and the pay was great. Well, he got a call yesterday to say the company withdrew the job offer as the company they are subcontracted to withdrew funding for the new department and that meant no position for him to fill. We have rent to pay (in Dublin city centre no less) he bought a car because of this job and we also have a six month old baby :-(
Just wondering if he has any legal standing in a situation like this? Surely acceptance of a written job offer constitutes some kind of contractual agreement?

Never ever hand in your notice till you see your terms of employment and sign your new contract. Even if he has an email to confirm the job offer you might have some come back. Without something in writing its a very difficult situation, the onus is on the prospective employee to secure their employment status, thats why paperwork is so important.

skallywag

reg114 wrote: »

Never ever hand in your notice till you see your terms of employment and sign your new contract.

I agree strongly with having a signed contract in hand before handing in notice.

The point mentioned concerning probabtion period is very valid though, even with a signed contract in hand you can still be let go with pretty much no comeback during this period.

tatsplat

The thing I don’t get is that most companies don’t have you sign until induction day, so what is a person supposed to do with the job they are leaving? Hey, I’m going to try somewhere else but I’m not really leaving so keep my job open? Apart from the fact that many places need notice before you leave.

seamus

tatsplat wrote: »

The thing I don’t get is that most companies don’t have you sign until induction day, so what is a person supposed to do with the job they are leaving? Hey, I’m going to try somewhere else but I’m not really leaving so keep my job open? Apart from the fact that many places need notice before you leave.

Depends on the industry maybe. When I worked low-wage jobs in school and college, such as supermarkets and call centres, being handed a contract on day one was pretty typical.

Full time professional jobs though I've never been in that situation. I've always had a contract issued and signed before I even hand in my notice at the current place.

splinter65

Disgusting scurrilous carry on and happening far too much lately. My sympathies.

doolox

.....the injured party mentioned tools being transported so I'd guess he is in construction of some description. Sammon company was only put in examinership yesterday on foot of effects on business of the Carillon collapse in the UK.

It might be that the employer in the new company has his hands tied by circumstances outside his control and may be fighting to stay afloat himself.

There might be very little he could do in the circumstances although it is a desperate situation to be in.

IITYWYBMAD

seamus wrote: »

Afaik Canada's employment laws are only barely better than the US's. There's virtually no way in the EU that a court would declare the money in that case would have to be repaid. Even then if I found myself in that situation I'd just come home and tell the company where to go.

Contract law requires that where there's a conflict in wording, the interpretation which is chosen is the one which is least beneficial to the party which created the contract.

So if, e.g., the contract said that the signing bonus and relocation package were contingent on "starting" the job, a court would rule in favour of the employee since it was the employer who didn't "start" the job, not the employee.

That's not strictly true.

Contract Law states that where there is ambiguity within a contract, the benefit will existed on the party who did not draft the contract. It makes no allowance for conflict, in terms of implied rights.

Most jurisdictions have an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing as a general presumption.

In Ireland, for example, there is a a general principle were if a contract is ambiguous through the use of language (terms like 'reasonable' for example) and between individuals and institutions (example and Individual and Bank) it is accepted that the 'lesser party' (in 99% of cases the individual) shall be deemed to be the beneficiary of the fairer interpretation.